Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-02-15
GUILTY. eagle
A COLD STORAGE DEPOT.
A REPORTER GATHERS POINTS AS
TO A CURIOUS PLACE.

An Immense Building Put to Odd Uses.
How a Frigid Atmosphere is OBJ
tained-Details of the Cooling Process.
Articles Stored.
1t is expected Of a country storekeeper
that bis stock shall include q little of every
thing. He is called upon for all sorts OF
goods, from hardware to hosiery and from
herrings to fresh eggs. Not infrequently ne
is banker and postmaster. In short, ne IS
sort Of comprehensive Pooh Bah But TINS
is ALWAYS on a small scale. His transactions
can hardly be called vast. He is satisfied
with a small yearly return. Analogous to
this protovpe in comprehensiveness, but on
q scale which might in comparison be called
colossal. is an enormous establishment In
west side street. Banking, warehousing and
insurance do not seem very closely allied; yet
one has grown out OF the other, and In this
establishment all three are successfully COM
bined. For twenty-five years this firm has
been engaged in the storage business, and SO
widely ramified and extensive has their trade
become that it has forced its projectors to
take up collaterally the calling OF bankers
and insurers. To the general public the most
striking feature of this immense depot Is the
department OF cold storage This has at
tanned development reached nowhere else
in the world The dimensions of the firms
largest building viii indicate its the proper
tions of their trade. The building is 400 by
400 feet The manager of the insurance de-
partmeut gave the reporter some points as to
this curious place.
s1In our forty-eight cold storage rooms, p"
said he, awe have more than fifteen miles Of
distributing pipes. There are three boilers,
generating 800 horse power. We use so
much water that we have sunk an artesian
well in our courtyard ct a cost of s., GOO,
and we get an unlimited supply OF clear
water without calling upon the city. The
building is provided with automatic fire
alarm wires and the doors have burglar
alarms Al our partitions and floors are Of
a patent stone composition. They cost Sl0,-
900 and are absolutely ire proof. For the
cooling process we use pure anhydrous am
monia. This ammonia is pumped to the roof
and subjected successfully to compression,
expansion and condensation; then 1t IS
forced into small pipes running into large
tanks filed with brine. This brine becomes
intensely cold and is passed in pipes through
out the system of rooms. The tanks are lined
with galvanized iron and are completely
water tight The ammonia comes from TIE
S-D6iI pipes at ii zen t'Sl't Vt4V VI 1" &c
Fahrenheit.
ADVANTAGES or THE METHOD.
The mechanical appliances would make
80 tons of ice per diem, if used for that prr-
pose Some of the pipes are continually
sheathed in a coating of ice three inches
thick. The great advantage Of our method
over ice is that the temperature is constantly
under the immediate and absolute control
Of the manager, and different temperatures
can be maintained in the various rooms.
BY merely turning q valve, which regulates
the flow of the brine, we can get a tenn
perature from 10 degrees Fahrenheit to 40
degrees Fahrenheit. We have a method Of
ascertaining the temperature Of any room
at a given time by the use Of the tele-ther-
mometer and its registering dial, which can
not be manipulated or doctored, but which
tells the unadulterated truth.
IF a patron IS afraid of taking cold by
stepping. on q summers day, from an out
side temperature Of 80 degrees Fahrenheit,
he NAV simply look at the register and see
the exact decree of cold TO which his goods
are subjected. In one room there is space
for 80, 600 boxes of cheese. Different COM
modities demand different degrees Of heat
and cold. For dried fruit 40 degrees Fahren-
heit IS required; for tobacco not less than
- degrees Fahrenheit. Fish must not have
above 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and butter
from IS to IS degrees. The egg rooms need
So TO 10 degrees, and fur calls for 10 de-
grees to prevent the breeding Of moths ard
other insects. Pears demand 81, and lager
beer viii not be satisfied with higher ten
psrature than SO degrees Fahrenheit. Va
have frequently more than s., coo, 900 worth
of goods in store. Twelve elevators are IL
use. We take no fbrous goods, such as cot
ton. The risks of fire are tCo great. Nt
have fee store rooms for butter elsewhere
Ice is used there simply because some per
sons fear that the butter may be Favored
with the ammonia. This would be utterly
impossible Put if they prefer ice they cal
nave it."-New York Mail and Express.